Thursday, November 08, 2018

My first thought Tuesday night when the TV news folk started declaring Republicans had lost the House of Representatives was, "ObamaCare stays."

Remember, Republicans took control of the House after vowing in the 2010 election to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They maintained that vow in the elections of 2012 and 2014, and voted several times in those three Congresses to actually do it -- though with a Democratic Senate and President, that was as far as it would go. Then in 2016 Republicans added the Senate to their control, while a President was elected on the Republican ticket. And now there was nothing to stop the Republican Congress from acting on their principled promises.

Except themselves.

Oh, sure, as a candidate and President, Mr. Trump has never been able to express opposition to ObamaCare with any enthusiasm, except possibly to "replace" it with essentially the same thing with his name attached to it. But that doesn't excuse the Republican Congress' inability to even present to the American people and the President what they had been promising since its 2010 passage into law. They failed.

And now, as in 2006 election in preparation for which a Republican Congress and President made the historic Democratic free-spending look like thrift, the Republicans have deservedly lost their House majority.